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An open discussion about the troubled parent industry

Even if PCHAD legislation is not used, coercion is certainly present. Most "clients" are threatened with abandonment, unable to see family members. They are young, have no work experience, little schooling etc. A staff member will stand in front of the door and refuse to move, provoking an "assault" so the "client" can then be charged - I did it myself while on staff. If the "client" manages to leave, the family is welcomed to stay and testify to the disease stealing their child.

PCHAD just enshrines the process AARC pioneered in Alberta.

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Does this portend AARC's loss of government funding?

Hopefully, but considering AARC pulled in over $6 million last year, and having Markin, and his billions and the likes of Canadian Natural Resources backing them up, I doubt AARC really cares about the $300,000 from the Prov gov't anymore.

 :whip:

AARC is addicted to cash. They have a multimillion $ nut every year. They go after every donor possible. They have learned from the Conservative Party that it is more sustainable to go after thousands of small donors as well as a few large ones - the small ones sustain you in hard economic times. Don'y forget - every client pays. If you have low paying job, but own your house, you must mortgage it or take out a loan. RRSPs? Great! Cash em in. Unless you are welfare recipient with no assets, you pay.

AARC has a huge fund of cash just sitting, accumulating. But there expenses do not add up. Low paid staff, a paid for building, dozens of paying customers. Why are their expenses so high?

I am truely sorry for your dilemma. I doubt that at 15 your son has had enough sustained drug use to be an addict, but if he does, the people at AARC are no more qualified to provide threament than I was. Chances are he will learn more about drug use and after a year or more in suspended animation he will be bursting to use drugs just to feel good after the shit he will go through there. You wil be down $50K or more and there is a better than even chance your child will relapse, likely with another AARC graduate. That is much more the norm than staying sober.

I'd like to know just how many of those graduates didn't have a substance abuse problem before they entered the program. What about the numerous amounts of teenagers who tried drugs but grew out of that on their own... are we really supposed to think that this program is responsible for the fact that all humans eventually mature?

Heres a for instance, If i were to participate in a WWASP study and as the questions would be written by WWASP they would ask me questions like this:

Do you use any drugs? No.

Can you hold down a job? Yes.

Have you been charged with any criminal activity since you came home? No.

and so on and so forth.

So would my answers to these questions indicate that the program was a success for me? Was the fact that I was neither a criminal nor a drug addict before I went into the program taken into account in this study? or that I did my fair share of drugs and drinking AFTER the program and matured out of that stage on my own? or that I was physically abused and strongly oppose the program. Does that have anything to do with the "success rate" or is that just all a little too relative to be taken seriously? Furthermore what about the kids that died or are in jail or wouldn't have even the slightest reason to keep in touch with AARC in order to be on their list for this survey. So honestly what surprises me is that other 15%, why would "druggies" even do this study in the first place?

Psy nailed it, this was a biased internal study from the beginning and these bogus claims have no credibility, but the programs have been lying for years so why should we put it passed them now?

I participated in intake/assessments for 3 years, both as a "client" and as a "peer". I would say perhaps 1 in 5 people I "assessed" had actual drug or alcohol usage to the extent that it was serious problem. 1 out of 5 would not have the amount of drug usage for it to be more than an occaissional beavioral issue. Certainly not a primary problem, almost always some marijuana usage, and some drinking. The middle three would vary, but EVERY kid that was assessed while I was there was told they were level 3 or 4. And believe me - many of the positive answers were inferred, not actually told to us by the kid. How many kids who walk through there could be honestly diagnosed with a substance abuse problem? Maybe half. Needless to say, I had no training in drug assessment - but I got lots of kids to stay, either by convincing the parents or even the kid. I think about it every day, and deeply regret my part in this BS.

NDP calling for youth centre investigation
 
Gwendolyn Richards
Calgary Herald


Wednesday, February 18, 2009


The provincial NDP's children and youth services critic is calling for an investigation into an addictions recovery centre in Calgary following reports some teens were victims of abuse.

Edmonton-Strathcona MLA Rachel Notley made the call for the investigation following question period Tuesday, where the issue was raised.

Liberal MLA Harry Chase initially called on the government to explain how the Alberta Adolescent Recovery Centre is licensed and monitored.

Children's Minister Janis Tarchuk said she was concerned about the allegations, but her ministry is not responsible for the treatment centre.

"In terms of AARC, my department does not have any capabilities or mandate to license a non-residential addiction treatment centre," she said during question period.

Her response, combined with Health Minister Ron Liepert's comment that the province provides $300,000 in annual funding, is a concern, said Notley.

"Regardless of whether the ministry of children and families does not license this place, they have a responsibility to respond to any complaints of abuse in the community,"she said. "The government seems to be washing their hands of it."

She added that because judges are ordering youth to attend the centre, the government has an obligation to ensure it is operating with best practices.

A spokeswoman for Alberta Children and Youth Services said the allegations of abuse are alarming, but the department's responsibility does not include third par-ties, only cases where the allegations are made against parents or guardians.

"We do take all reports of allegations of abuse very seriously. We do recommend people contact police if they have been abused," Dawn Delaney said.

Alberta Health and Wellness spokesman Howard May said the ministry has no plans to investigate the facility, pointing out any allegations of abuse fall under the children's ministry, while questions around the provision of drug counselling services is the responsibility of his department.

Notley said the government has an obligation to examine the allegations.

Also troubling, said Notley, is that peers are serving as counsellors in the facility despite having no training and without supervision.

[email protected]

© The Calgary Herald 2009

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I see lots of loud protest on Facebook and the CBC comments

I can't find anything. Does anyone have a link?

facebook:
http://www.facebook.com/group.php?gid=5 ... 606&ref=mf

Quote from: "anonAARCgrad"

Again, they have powerful friends - government, media, law enforcement. I am hoping more graduates and parents open their eyes, let go of their one-sided opinions and see what is going on. That is the most important thing. It took me years and I needed a jolt to get my head out my ass. But if it can happen to me, it can happen for anyone.

That's the thing with thought reform.  It's only temporary and only lasts as long as a person is in the group.  Straight Inc kids who still think the program helped them to this day are few and far between (I can't recall ever meeting one).

When did you snap out of it?  Recently?

Its been over the last couple of years. Looooong story.